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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “mvc”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “mvc”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Email Checker for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

CSS & JavaScript Toolbox places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 84 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 rtMedia for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress 7K+ · 3.7★ (152) wp.org #1 2 WP Performance Score Booster – Optimize Speed, Enable Cache & Page Preload 10K+ · 4.6★ (339) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 CSS & JavaScript Toolbox 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Better Robots.txt – AI-Ready Crawl Control & Bot Governance 5K+ · 4.5★ (102) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 X-Currency – The Ultimate WooCommerce currency switcher for a smoother shopping experience 1K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 R RT Auction Product for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 Traffic Monitor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Simple Table Manager 400+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Aryu Form Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 24TT Document Verifier 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 GlocalSaino Auctions Displayed by Shortcodes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 License Keys for WooCommerce 80+ · 3.1★ (23) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Mediaspy – Detect & Clean Unused Media 70+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #14 15 Expandable FAQ 40+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 NexIndex – Auto Table of Contents & SEO Links — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 W WP-Platform V1 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 18 S Shibisty Sharing Activity Detector — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 AI Crawlers Visibility, Analytics & Control 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Abstract Box — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Daily Maxim 365 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Email Checker for Contact Form 7 90+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 Ultrafan — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Multi Vendor Campaign 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 9 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.